


Here, There Be Dragons

by Anonymous



Series: Nano 2018 [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Guardian Deity AU, Or essentially Ichigo as a dragon, another nano short story, edited and presented for your reading pleasure, with his two dragon sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 13:30:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17387267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Ichigo is a guardian deity. He and his sisters have watched over the town of Karakura since it was just a few thatched huts by the river. No one knew where they came from, but no matter the trouble, the residents were always safe within the city borders. Time marched on but the people did not forget as so often happens. Instead, they became fiercely protective of their guardian in turn. Outsiders are not told of his existence, only warned.





	Here, There Be Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> Setting:
> 
> Ichigo is a guardian deity. He and his sisters have watched over the town of Karakura since it was just a few thatched huts by the river. No one knew where they came from, but no matter the trouble, the residents were always safe within the city borders. Time marched on but the people did not forget as so often happens. Instead, they became fiercely protective of their guardian in turn. Outsiders are not told of his existence, only warned. Yakuza are present, but very well-behaved. Citizens of Karakura are never harmed, and the town has become something of a neutral territory/retirement spot for those ready to leave the criminal life behind.
> 
> Ichigo himself (and his sisters) passes through the town regularly, and visitors are both drawn to and terrified of his presence. He looks ambiguously young, always. His sisters are small storms of their own, and have quite the following among the residents. The Guardian Family never demands anything from them save good behavior and respect for the Shrine on the hill.
> 
> Urahara never settles in properly enough for the residents to let him in on the secret- and by the time he's been there a century, everyone expects he knows already. He doesn't, surprisingly enough.

It was considered common fact by the residents of Karakura town that they were fiercely protected by a Dragon (who had more or less become their local deity of the centuries) and his two younger sisters.

"When he takes human form, he has two swords- one white, one black, and they turn into smaller dragon-warriors too when he asks! That's before you add in his sisters- they're younger and not as strong, but they're still very tough by even Dragon standards-"

Urahara isn't really listening to the rambling explanation with more than half an ear, his mind is busy moving a thousand directions at once.

"So you say this Ichigo-sama protects the town, and that's why the kidnapping attempts were unsuccessful?" Yoroichi is leaning forward ever so slightly in interest, and Urahara can't blame her.

"Of course! Ichigo-sama has always protected the citizens of Karakura town." Orihime smiles disarmingly, the way one does when absolutely certain of something someone else doubts.

"How does one go about contacting this…Ichigo-sama?" Orihime lights up.

"Oh! Well, I suppose it depends. In an emergency, it's usually best to just call for his help, or even just say his name out loud. If it isn't an emergency, he usually walks around town often enough that we can just talk to him. There's no real telling when, though. It's not like he shares his schedule with us."

Tatsuki, who hasn't actually released her grip on Orihime since the near-kidnapping, takes up the explanation.

"If there's something urgent but not emergency-type urgent, then you could visit the Shrine on the Hill."

Urahara has…heard about this place before, but has never actually been there himself. He knows more about death and the cycle of life than any of these mortals combined. It seemed he had let the pride of the Shinigami blind him yet again.

"Visit the Shrine, you say?"

Tatsuki is trying and failing not to look fairly gleeful at the fact that she can answer a question Urahara Kisuke can't. She doesn't like his meddling with Orihime.

"Yeah. Of course, there's not guarantee he'll help. He's not like a genie. And you have make your case that it's to protect Karakura town. He's a Guardian Deity, you know?" She smirks at Urahara. Ah, youth.

"Is there something you have to do, or bring?" Yoroichi is of course wary, and Kisuke understands all too well. Things like this have a catch.

"No, not really. I mean, it's polite to bring an offering of some kind. But his little sister cooks beautifully, her curry is to die for, honestly, so food's not really a thing. Umm," Tatsuki pauses, thinking seriously. "Ichigo-sama likes reading. Literature, if I remember correctly. OH! That's right, he likes that old English writer. William Shakespeare? Yeah, that's it. He even learned English just to read the originals, not the translations."

"You know that much about him? Yoroichi looks skeptical, but Tatsuki shrugs.

"He visits the town quite often and if you let him, he'll tell you all about his favorite literature. He's an odd one, our Ichigo-sama."

"He is! But he's very kind, honestly." Tatsuki snorts.

"Kind? I mean sure, he's got a soft spot for kids. But did you see what he did to those guys when we were back in middle school?"

Orihime blinks at Tatsuki. "Eh? I said he was kind, I never said he was nice."

Ah, thought Kisuke, that is an important difference.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

The Shrine is well kept, and peaceful but welcoming. Urahara has little sense of foreboding, despite the fact that his sixth sense is telling him that he is definitely a prey animal walking into a predator's den.

"And we're here!" Orihime announced cheerfully, completely unconcerned when the doors opened without any sign of movement from within. "Oh look, I think they're expecting us."

Walking in, Urahara is surprised to discover that the already spacious building is even bigger on the inside. It appears to be a grand hall, complete with pillars, ornate carvings, and shadows that aren't moving correctly with the light patterns. Kisuke even thinks he can hear whispers. Orihime is delighted.

"They have so many visitors today!"

"Visitors? Aside from us?" Asks Yoroichi dryly. Her hand is twitching- not noticeably to anyone present aside from Kisuke, but still.

"You didn't really think that dragons were the only supernatural creatures in the world, right?" Tatsuki rolls her eyes. "I don't know how much you're seeing, not being from Karakura, but Ichigo-sama is also the ruler of the lands around Karakura for all the Youkai. Seems they're holding court today- or is it a feast?" She mumbles to herself. "I never really paid much attention to all the fancy ins and outs of the Youkai world."

Right.

"So exactly how long are we going to have to wait, anyway?"

"Uh, it depends I guess. If it's court, then lots of other people are ahead of us. If it's a feast, we're going to have to come back. It's really rude to interrupt a feast with business, I know that much." Tatsuki scratches at an itch idly, looking around for context clues.

"Orihime nii-san! Have you come for a visit?"

To his credit, Kisuke doesn't do more than twitch uncomfortably when another voice appears at his elbow, and roundly ignores him.

It's a young girl, about middle-school age. Is she a youkai, or another supplicant?

"Yuzu-chan! It's so good to see you!" Orihime is in raptures with this Yuzu-chan, and they discuss…recipes?

"You were supposed to bring them back, or did you forget already?" Urahara is braced by this point, and when another voice shows up he's much better prepared for it.

"Ah, sorry Karin!" Karin, as it turns out, just sighs.

"Whatever. Me and Ichi-nii figured you'd get distracted, so I'll do it." She turns, and catching sight of her full face, Urahara realizes that this is definitely not a human child. There is something just a bit…off with the structure of her face, and her eyes are very literally luminous-with slit pupils. "Urahara-san, Yoroichi-san, right? My brother wants to talk with you. He's this way." Karin took off walking, shadows dispersing to form a clear path. Urahara and Yoroichi followed, Tatsuki and Orihime talking with Yuzu.

"Right. You've got something to say, and my brother's making an exception to etiquette to give you a shot. Do us all a favor and don't bullshit him. You brought something?" Urahara silently tapped the bag he'd brought. "Well, there's a point in your favor I suppose. Just be polite, you're asking us for a favor. That doesn't mean we're obligated to do anything about it. Got it?"

"Karin, please stop being rude to the guests."

Being here was increasingly bad for Kisuke's heart, honestly. How many more people were going to just pop out of the shadows?

"Whatever, Ichi-nii. I'm going to go hang out with Sado-nii." Karin turned to walk out a side door, but vanished into mist before she was actually out of sight. That looked pretty useful, but Urahara forced himself to focus on the purpose he was here to fulfill.

"Ichigo-sama." Ichigo-sama was fairly tall, but shorter than Urahara himself by just a bit. Bright orange hair, glowing eyes and slit pupils like his sister. He inclined his head in acknowledgement and blinked the slow, lazy blink of an apex predator at rest.

"Urahara-san, Yoroichi-san. You're both from Soul Society originally, I believe."

"Ah, so you know of us! That saves us from introductions, at least." Urahara slipped a hand into his bag, and pulled out two packages. "So perhaps we can move on to the tokens of appreciation. This is a present for your sisters-" Orihime had insisted on it, claiming that the girls loved this specific brand of chocolates- "and this is something I brought for you, if you will accept it." Urahara carefully laid both packages on the table. If Ichigo-sama was as big a fan of Shakespeare as Tatsuki thought he was…

Ichigo-sama was gentle with his package, then his eyes widened. How odd, for such an old creature to be so open.

"Is this really- ah, you actually listened to Tatsuki, didn't you?" Ichigo looked impressed and amused. "You seem like a very proud person, but you took the advice of a human some centuries younger than you." Ichigo-sama carefully replaced the covering on the antique book. "Something must be very important to you, then. At the least, I can listen to you." Ichigo-sama slants a look at the two ex-Shinigami. "Perhaps you will be able to explain why so many of my people have been in danger recently, too."

"So you've got an overpowered, world-breaking super-weapon hidden in your basement or something ridiculous like that, and an overpowered, world-wrecking megalomaniac wants said super-weapon to ensure his ability to destroy everything and thereby set himself up as ruler of our universe. Does that sound about right?" Urahara nodded, fingers fiddling with the fan on his lap.

"And you've come here to ask me for help. Are you asking me to take care of your super-weapon, or your megalomaniac?"

"Whichever one you are willing to help with, Ichigo-sama." A finger taps the table in front of the Dragon, and tea appears in front of all of them. It smells wonderful, but thoughts of getting stuck in the world of Youkai twist through his brain even as he thanks his host.

"You mean whichever I am capable of, don't you, Shinigami?"

Urahara was going to avoid mentioning that. He really had no clue where Ichigo-sama's power was in comparison to Aizen's and it was better to avoid making assumptions. It was even better to avoid angering an Ancient Dragon Deity though.

Ichigo's smile was predatory, and all of his teeth were too sharp for a human.

"Tell me, Shinigami-san, truthfully, which problem would you prefer that I take off your hands: Aizen, or the Hogyoku?"

A hand that now looked slightly more claw-like was curled delicately around a blue and gold tea cup, the Dragon sipping while he awaited Urahara's answer; Brown-amber-gold eyes never leaving his guests.

"Ichigo-sama," started Urahara slowly, carefully, respectfully. "If I may take a few more moments of your time to explain, then I will. Aizen Sousuke is a failure of mine. He manipulated and trapped me, he continues to do so within Soul Society to further his personal interests. The Hogyoku however is my creation and my responsibility. By itself, it can do no harm to your land. In the hand of Aizen, it will make an already devastating power close to unstoppable. If I could, I would destroy it but I cannot. I can, however, fight against Aizen." Urahara fought with himself, but recalled the words of Tatsuki and Orihime-chan, and took off his hat; kept his fan lowered. "Truthfully, it would make more sense for you to kill Aizen as the actual threat. Practically speaking, I have no hope of destroying the Hogyoku." It stung to admit this out loud, and to a stranger no less. It helped immensely though that Ichigo-sama showed no judgment or condescension, merely attention.

Realizing the full weight of that attention was on him was a little hard to bear, though.

"Therefore, I must ask you to take care of the Hogyoku for me, Ichigo-sama."

Kisuke slid forward, prepared to beg if necessary. Something poked his shoulder, and he looked up to see Ichigo-sama disconcertingly close.

"I will help you. Stop bowing, we have plans to make." Urahara sat up again, eyes wide. Ichigo-sama spared him a glance. "What? You were fairly honest, which I doubt comes very naturally to you; you also took responsibility for your actions, which is rarer than you might think- but still asked for help with what you could not fix yourself. Lastly," and Ichigo-sama smiled again, but this time it was friendlier than anything before, "you are willing to work for the solution yourself, and have not just dumped it all on me to fix." Ichigo gave a deep sigh. "I can appreciate an attitude like yours. Besides, it is a threat to that which is Ours to protect. With all that, how could I refuse?"

When Urahara leaves the Shrine on the Hill, it feels like he can breathe again.

`~`~`~`~`~`~`

Urahara Kisuke looks on in dismay as a Dragon Deity, older perhaps than the city of Seireitei itself but currently dressed in dark ripped jeans and a band t-shirt, takes one look at his precious life's work, grimaces, and then just swallows it whole.

"What," is all Yoroichi makes out. Tessai has on the face he wears when he's thinking all kinds of terrible curses inside, but doesn't want the children to hear. Normally Kisuke thinks it's a hilarious face and does his best to record it for later interpretation and blackmail purposes, but he's right there along with him at this point.

"Problem solved, kids. What's next?" says the Deity, who also looks all of 18 right now. Kisuke can feel a twitch developing over his eye.

"Did you just eat it? So what now, it's just going to stay with you, in your stomach, forever?" Yoroichi doesn't seem to be accepting this development very easily. Ichigo-sama rolls his eyes like that's the silliest question he's ever heard.

"No? Digestion, it's a thing. Don't you hang out with a mad scientist? This is something you should know about by now, I think."

Tessai seems torn between running away retreating to the kitchen and face palming. He does neither, but he does sit down slowly, as far away from the mess as possible.

"Ah, so with that, it seems your part in this mess is done, then." Urahara feels a bit lightheaded. This problem shouldn't have been solved so quickly, to think that the solution has been living in this town even longer than he has- well. He's about to continue when there's a blast of familiar reiatsu, and all three former Shinigami tense.

"It seems like he got my invitation, then. Good," says Ichigo, smirking and looking quite satisfied with himself.

"You- I'm sorry?"

"I thought I'd go ahead and deal with your Aizen problem as well. Since Urahara-san did such a good job the other day. It's a token of my appreciation, if you will. Besides, that really is a lovely gift you brought me." With that, Ichigo-sama sweeps away to fight off the terror of Soul Society, manifesting two swords (one white and one black, just like Orihime-chan was telling them) and roaring a challenge- quite literally, it's very terrifying and animalistic.

Ichigo-sama makes quick work of Aizen, and deposits the body at Urahara's feet just in time to vanish before the forces of Seireitei come marching in.

`~`~`~`~`~`~

Urahara visits the Shrine later that week, once he gets the chance to slip away. He has a few questions about his inability to tell anyone what had truly happened. Instead, some half-baked story about developing a Kido spell targeted to Aizen specifically came spilling out.

He's barely halfway up the hill before Ichigo-sama appears, this time barefoot with washed out jeans and a black shirt. Ichigo-sama looks a little older now, closer to 25 or so.

"You put a spell on me," Urahara states. Ichigo shrugs.

"As long as it worked. You couldn't possibly think I was going to expose my sisters and the Youkai world to the wishes and whiles of the Captain Commander, could you?"

That's a good point, honestly. And it's not as though Urahara blamed Ichigo-sama for it either, it just…grabbed at his curiosity, honestly.

"So what happens now, for you?" Ichigo-sama snorts, then stretches his arms behind his back.

"I'm pretty sure that's my line, you know. Your exile is over now, isn't it? That means you have a choice to make for staying or returning. I will continue doing what I have always done- protecting my family." Ichigo-sama starts humming a little, and turns to walk up the hill. Urahara follows.

**Author's Note:**

> Missing Scenes:
> 
> -Ichigo turning into a dragon for the first time in front of the ex-shinigami crowd. He's a very big dragon.
> 
> -Urahara sweet-talking his way into the library at the Shrine, and immediately setting about learning the spells. He manages not to blow too much up, even


End file.
